France's reputation in law enforcement is at stake again

But when it comes to actual results, politics is rarely as definitive and inspiring as sports.

Since he took office last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to combat the antisemitism that, all too often in France, underlies acts of violence against Jews that are bestial in nature.

Other French politicians, such as Macron’s predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Franҫois Hollande, as well as former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, have all made similar promises, arguing with genuine conviction that hatred of Jews is a direct threat to France’s republican and democratic traditions. All of them have uttered, and repeatedly, some variation of the sentence that “France without its Jews is not France.” And yet, not only does the violence continue, French Jews can’t be sure of justice even when the perpetrators are caught.

If Sarkozy had been serious, he would never have given an award to Charles Enderlin as he did about a year after being elected, and would never have acted as though Israel was an "occupier". And it makes no difference even if he was pressured into doing it; this only shows that as a country leader, he did not have the guts it took to be one.

Under French law, a murderer who is deemed sufficiently insane can avoid a trial. If the third psychiatric evaluation of Traore that has now been ordered by the investigating magistrate echoes the conclusions of the second, then he will be excused a trial, protected indefinitely by a scientifically dubious assessment of his mental health.

That’s why France’s leaders should expect to undergo the trial of international public scrutiny if this sadistic, antisemitic killer is sent to a psychiatric hospital instead of answering for his crimes. France’s ability to secure elemental justice for its most vulnerable citizens is being tested — and nothing less than the reputation of a nation is at stake.

If the lawmakers are smart, they'll ensure the laws are modified so that mental insanity cannot immediately be used as an excuse in any instance. And previous presidents would do well to apologize for their own failure, and even apologize for making issues out of Israel.

Not only that, they're going to have to punish the police officers who refused to take action when they arrived at the apartment, and make sure law enforcement actually takes action when violent offenders are threatening innocent lives.